Nevada grad Gayman back in NCAA Tourney

Although the NCAA March Madness brackets of most area sports fans may have already busted after Friday's first-round action, they've still got Saturday's games to get back on track.

And they might see a familiar face while they're at it.

Former Nevada High School star Clay Gayman, class of 2018 and the school's all-time leading scorer with 1,976 points, is making his second trip to the National Tournament as a member of the Abilene Christian University Wildcats.

After seeing two minutes of action in the team's 79-44 loss against Kentucky in the opening round of the 2019 tourney, and then like every college hoopster not getting a chance to even play in March Madness in 2020, the 6-foot-6, 220-pound forward is back in the Big Dance in 2021 — with his No. 14-seed Wildcats (23-4) set to tip off against No. 3-seed Texas (19-7) at 8:50 p.m. Saturday night inside Lucas Oil Stadium.

Gayman should log plenty more court time this go around, as he enters the tournament averaging 16 minutes per game. With the added opportunities, Gayman is also averaging 8.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.

ACU will need as much from Gayman that it can get. The Wildcats are 8.5-point underdogs against the Big 12 Tournament champs (according to DraftKings Sportsbook).